To promote friendship and solidarity with the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea and the Songun Idea

Sunday, 24 April 2016

Review of In Defence of Songun from New Worker

by George Cockburn

In Defence of Songunby Dermot Hudson (Lulu Press, 2015)

THE
IDEAS of Juche and Songun are two of the major developments of Marxist thinking
that have emerged from the Korean revolution, and added to the theoretical
armoury of the world socialist and communist movements.

In
particular Juché and Songun have offered a valuable path for many small,
developing countries to emulate. They are a valued contribution to the
struggles for national independence and socialism in our times, and have
attracted followers around the world.

Virtually
nothing has been written in the West on the subject of Songun and what little
has been written has been from a hostile position to the Democratic Peoples’
Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the Korean revolution. Moreover, while the Juché and
Songun ideas are the twin pillars of defending the DPR Korea's cherished
independence and sovereignty, fewer people in the West are aware of the Songun
policy than about the Juché idea.

For
these reasons Dermot Hudson's new book, In
Defence of Songun, is a valuable and timely contribution to the available
material in the English language on this topic, particularly for the many
people around the world engaged in studying the ideological aspects of the
Korean revolution.

The
founding of the Songun policy (also known as the Army First policy) began on 25th
August 1960 when Kim Jong Il, then Chair of the National Defence Commission,
inspected the Seoul Ryu Kyong Su 105 Guards Tank Division of the Korean
People’s Army.

Hudson
describes Songun as: “The main socialist mode of politics, as it is the mode of
politics that gives top priority to military affairs and defends the country,
the revolution and socialism with the People’s Army as the core and the main
force, and dynamically pushes ahead with overall socialist construction.”

The
book looks at specific aspects of the Songun policy, including its relation to
revisionist theories, economic classes, and to world politics – and emphasises
that the Army First policy in no way implies a form of military dictatorship:
“Of course this does not mean that the army takes over society nor that Songun
politics advocates a military government nor is a deviation from the socialist
idea as some reactionaries and opportunists have tried to suggest.

“Military
government is the one in which the reactionary ruling class militarise all
fields of the state and social life and subordinate them to the building up of
the military strength for aggressive war,” adding: “This is done on behalf of
the monopoly capitalist ruling class.”

Hudson
also stresses the role of the Korean People's Army (KPA) under the Songun
policy as one of serving the Korean people and the economy, not only in war but
also in peacetime, actively contributing to economic construction.

“In the
DPRK”, he says, “the People’s Army undertakes at the highest level the construction
of monumental edifices, power stations, factories, cultural and welfare
facilities and housing across the country.

“In
2015 alone, numerous projects including historic sites associated with the
Fatherland Liberation War Museum, the Sinchon Museum, the Automation Institute
of the Kim Chaek University of Technology, the Satellite Control Centre of the
National Aerospace Development Administration, the Wonsan Orphanage, the
Pyongyang Rest Home and the new Pyongyang International Airport terminal have
been newly built or refurbished thanks to the devoted efforts of the People’s
Army.”

An
example of how the KPA serves the masses was when flash floods struck the area
around the city of Rajin near the Russian and Chinese border last August, in
which according to the International Red Cross 40 people lost their lives and
more than 11,000 people were left homeless.

Units
of the KPA were on the spot within 24 hours, and within three to four weeks new
housing, roads and bridges had been built or repaired.

Perhaps
the residents of towns hit by devastating floods in northern England last year,
who have had to wait weeks and months for insurance and “emergency” Government
pay-outs and for local councils to repair local infrastructure, might be
envious of such a rapid and effective response!

In
these ways Songun has contributed to the remarkable achievements of the DPR
Korea in maintaining strong and technologically advanced defence forces, under
constant threat of war from US imperialism, while still managing rapidly to
develop the economy, embark on dozens of construction projects from housing to
tourist resorts, and greatly improve the standards of life and culture for its
people year by year.

In
recent times the 2003 invasion of Iraq has become symbolic of the lies and
aggression of US imperialism that have caused so much death and suffering
around the world. As Hudson writes: “The US imperialists have recorded in their
bloody history more than 200 wars against small and developing countries since
1945. After the Cold War some people thought that their ambitions of aggression
would be weak. But the reality was contrary to them.”

Shortly
after George W Bush declared “mission accomplished” in that war, Kim Jong Il
wrote: “The bloody lesson of the war in Iraq for the world is that only when a
country has physical deterrent forces and massive military deterrent forces
that are capable of overwhelmingly defeating any attack by state-of-the-art
weapons, can it prevent war and defend its independence and national security.”

This
was a lesson to all small, developing countries that to disarm in the face of
imperialism meant to lay their country open to attack, and was confirmed yet
again with horrific consequences by the regime change in Libya after Muammar
Gaddafi agreed to cancel the development of nuclear weapons.

Dermot
Hudson's book looks in detail at all these aspects of the Songun idea, and is
recommended to all readers of the New
Worker as a new and useful resource in studying and understanding
contributions of the Korean revolution and its leaders.